


Summer Jobs and Strings

by Vivireels



Series: Klaine Valentines Challenge 2021 [1]
Category: Glee
Genre: Fluff, Klaine Valentines Challenge, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 07:07:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29149479
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vivireels/pseuds/Vivireels
Summary: Blaine works at a yogurt shop and can’t help but fall for the cute boy he sees reading in the park everyday. Day 1 of Klaine's Valentines Challenge 2021.
Relationships: Blaine Anderson/Kurt Hummel
Series: Klaine Valentines Challenge 2021 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2139597
Comments: 9
Kudos: 20
Collections: KlaineCCValentines2021





	Summer Jobs and Strings

**Author's Note:**

> Klaine AU inspired by the song “Invisible String” by Taylor Swift. I was super inspired by the first verse of this song and decided to take the 'invisible string' part a little more literally. Enjoy!

Blaine actually loved his summer job at Yogurtland. The whole shop was bursting with color, it was nice and air-conditioned, and he could have free frozen yogurt whenever he wanted, plus some pretty nice pay for a high schooler. But what really brightened Blaine’s days at the shop was the perfect view he had of Centennial Park- more specifically, a perfect view of the cute boy who came to read there everyday.

It took him a couple of weeks into working before he noticed the boy. He was fair-skinned with beautiful auburn hair that seemed to defy gravity. Every weekday, or at least from what Blaine could tell based on his shifts, the boy would sit down on one of the benches and pull out a paperback book from his messenger bag. 2 hours would pass by, and then the boy would pack his book and slowly walk out of the park, away from Blaine’s view until the next day.

What fascinated Blaine most about the mystery boy was his outfits. Blaine had never seen anyone his age dress like that, not in Ohio at least. One day, he would show up in a white short-sleeved button down shirt with a bird pattern and black skinny jeans, and the next the day he would wow with mustard-colored trousers and a grey shirt and black vest. So Blaine told himself that he was simply admiring the boy’s outfits each day, definitely not staring at the boy himself. 

This went on for about a month before Blaine finally met the boy. It was a hot summer day and the yogurt shop was full of families trying to entertain little kids, teens trying to escape from the summer heat, and 3 employees, including Blaine, who were trying to keep up with their sudden surge in business. Blaine was getting to all the customers he could, weighing their cups and ringing them up, only to repeat the process another dozen times with the remaining customers. He was working so quickly that he barely noticed the familiar auburn swoop as he rang him up.

“That’ll be $4.43,” he said just before his eyes met piercing blue ones. He swore he felt his heart skip a beat as properly took in the mystery boy’s face for the first time.

Blaine had only ever seen him from afar, but now with him so close, he could see the highlights in his hair, the blue of his eyes, the light dusting of freckles across his face. He was ten times more stunning up close.

Blaine was shaken out of his trance by the boy setting his money on the counter. “Keep the change...Blaine” he said with a small smile.

Blaine was about to ask how the boy knew his name, but he realized that mystery boy was staring at the nametag adorning Blaine’s bright teal shirt. _Duh, Blaine_.

“T-Thanks,” Blaine said quickly, trying not to stare too much as the still nameless boy made his way out the door.

“Excuse me? My daughter dropped her yogurt,” a loud mother sneered, interrupting his daze. “I’m gonna need another one.”

Blaine shook his head and put on his best customer service smile. He was definitely going to need it. “No worries, I can fix that right up for you.” And with that, he pushed all thoughts of the mystery boy out of his mind.

So maybe the next day when the boy came to read on his bench again, Blaine stared just a little longer and tried to see the blue of his eyes. That didn’t mean he had a crush.

* * *

Blaine definitely had a crush. And he still didn’t even know his name. 

It had been 2 weeks since MBB (Mysterious Book Boy, which seemed to suit him more than just ‘mystery boy’) first came into the Yogurtland, and Blaine now used every chance he got to sneak a peek at the gorgeous boy who would read on the bench every day. It was a slow day so Blaine was wiping down the counter for the 20th time and trying to look busy as he daydreamed about what book MBB could be reading.

“You know you could just talk to him someday instead of watching him like a creep,” Blaine’s coworker Tina said. Tina was Blaine’s only friend from the job. They were both in the summer before their junior year and had plenty in common, so naturally they were fast friends. 

Blaine blushed furiously. “I’m not watching him like a _creep_. I’m just...appreciating his aesthetic.”

Tina snorted. “Yeah, ‘cause that makes it better.” Blaine shot her a warning look and she raised her hands in surrender while trying to hide a smile. Tina grabbed a broom and got to work sweeping the floor while Blaine resumed his counter-wiping. They fell into a comfortable silence for a few minutes before Tina spoke up again.

“His name is Kurt, by the way.”

Blaine’s head snapped up to look at her. “What?”

“His name is Kurt. Kurt Hummel. He’s in the grade above me at McKinley. We’ve actually been in glee club together for the past 2 years.”

Blaine froze and stared at her with his jaw dropped for a moment before he exclaimed, “And you just never thought to mention this while I was over here pining?”

Tina shrugged as she gave him a coy smile. “You never asked. And besides, what would be the fun in that?” She ducked to dodge the wet rag he threw at her. “Hey now, I’m sure Kurt wouldn’t appreciate this violence,” she shot out through her laughter.

Blaine rolled his eyes at her and then turned to face the front window again. He could see Kurt just starting to pack up his book as he got ready to leave the park for the day.

 _Kurt_.

* * *

There were now only 3 weeks left of summer, and while Blaine was mentally preparing to start school again, he wasn’t quite ready to say goodbye to his weekdays at the yogurt shop, and especially to seeing Kurt everyday.

Yogurtland was having an end of summer discount, so Tina and Blaine were currently putting up signs and decorations in the windows while the other employees rang up the last bit of customers. 

“I still don’t understand why they need _this_ many decorations for a promotional event that only lasts a week,” Tina grumbled.

“It’s _festive_ , T. Besides, once we get the giant banner up, we’re practically done.”

Just as Blaine finished taping a poster in the window, the door right beside him opened, causing him to almost run into-

Kurt.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t see you there,” Kurt apologized. 

Blaine laughed lightly although he was anything but calm inside. “No worries.”

“Kurt! Hi!” Tina greeted enthusiastically. “Have you met Blaine?” Blaine groaned internally. The last thing he needed was for Tina to try and set him and Kurt up only for Blaine to be rejected.

But Kurt wasn't scared off and instead smiled as his eyes traveled to Blaine. “Not formally. I’m Kurt.”

“I know,” Blaine heard himself saying. He quickly realized how creepy that came across and tried to backtrack. “I mean- Tina’s mentioned you a-and you’ve come in here a few times, and-” He quickly shook his head and tried again. “Hi, Kurt. I’m Blaine.”

Kurt was holding back a laugh and his eyes were twinkling. “Nice to meet you, Blaine. Officially.” Blaine would do anything to keep his eyes twinkling like that.

He didn’t realize he was staring at Kurt until Tina coughed and they both jumped. He felt himself blushing as Tina gave him a knowing look.

“I have to finish up something in the back, but we still have some decorating left. Kurt, you wouldn’t mind helping Blaine hang up the last banner, would you? I promise I’ll sneak you a free cup of froyo,” She winked at him.

Kurt looked at Tina with a look Blaine couldn’t decipher, and then cleared his throat and nodded. “Sure, yeah. I, uh, I can help with that. If you’re okay with that?” He looked at Blaine for an answer.

Blaine nodded a little too eagerly before stopping himself. “Yes. Yeah. That would- that would be great.”

Tina smiled. “Great! Blaine can show you how to hang it. It should only take a minute. Thanks!” She called as she disappeared into the staff room.

Kurt looked at Blaine expectantly. “Alright, teach me the art of hanging a banner.” He waggled his eyebrows as Blaine chuckled.

“Well, you see,” Blaine began. “It’s an ancient art, and requires the finest of materials,” He referenced the duct tape in his hand.

“Oh, of course,” Kurt said deadpanned. “No amateurs like me are allowed to use such high level tools.”

“For you, I’ll make an exception,” Blaine winked. Kurt laughed as Blaine handed him the duct tape. “Let me just untangle the string of the banner first and then we can get it up there.”

“Oh, allow me to help,” Kurt offered. “I can just-”

“Just pull on that part-”

“Maybe loop it through here?”

“No, I think that’s just tying a knot…”

“If you pull…”

“I think I got it...no…”

There was a moment of silence as both boys stopped moving and looked down at the mess of knots that the string of the banner had made.

“Blaine?”

“Yeah?”

“I think we may have tied our hands into this mess.”

Blaine nodded. Sure enough, their joint attempt to untangle the thread had only created more knots and now both of their hands were caught in the labyrinth of string. Blaine didn’t think this was exactly what Tina had pictured when she was clearly trying to set them up.

He started laughing at the ridiculousness of what he and Kurt had done, and Kurt was soon laughing along with him. Once their laughter had subsided, Kurt looked at the mess of knots.

“Okay, don’t move and I think I can get us out of this” he reasoned while inspecting the tangle. Kurt carefully pulled one of his hands out and loosened the remaining string to free his other one. He then got to work on undoing knots and pulling string around to free Blaine’s hands. In less than a minute, Blaine’s hands were unrestricted and the string was in a straight line.

“Well, now I know who to call if I ever need help untangling some knots,” Blaine looked up at Kurt with a smile.

“Well you would need my number to do that,” Kurt teased. 

Blaine laughed again as he ducked his head and blushed. When he looked up again, Kurt seemed to be in a similar position. Blaine realized that this might be his only chance to talk to Kurt for the rest of the summer, so he may as well be brave.

“I, uh...Can I? Have your number, that is.”

Kurt suddenly had the brightest smile on his face. “Can I tell you something?” Blaine nodded. “I’ve kind of been waiting for most of the summer for you to ask me that.”

Blaine probably looked as bewildered as he felt. “Really? I didn’t even think you knew who I was until a few weeks ago.”

Kurt laughed. “Tina wouldn’t shut up about the cute, supposedly gay, guy that she started working with. Once I saw you, I _may_ have started coming to the park a lot more often in case I got the courage to talk to you.”

“Definitely gay, by the way.”

Kurt laughed as he met Blaine’s gaze. “So yes, you can have my number. And feel free to call me with any knot-related emergencies.”

Tina didn’t even complain when she had to hang up the banner on her own later that day. Seeing Kurt and Blaine chatting happily on the park bench was enough to make up for it.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi loves! 
> 
> Here's my first one-shot for the Klaine's Valentines Day challenge! I'm so excited to be writing for the next 2 weeks and I hope you'll follow me along on my journey! Let me know what you thought of this one-shot, and what other tropes you'd like to see in the upcoming ones!
> 
> As always, see you in the next fic! ~Vivi


End file.
